


In the Interest of Full Disclosure

by virgo_writer



Series: Sixteen-by-Eight Feet [7]
Category: Make It or Break It
Genre: F/M, Family, Family Dynamics, Gen, Humor, Overprotective, Romance, team get-that-man-away-from-my-daughter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-18
Updated: 2011-03-18
Packaged: 2020-09-01 20:21:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20263975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/virgo_writer/pseuds/virgo_writer
Summary: “Why so serious, babe?” Caitlin grimaced, took a deep breath in, and began. A homage to the men in Caitlin Belov's life. 16x8 Universe. Payson/Sasha.





	In the Interest of Full Disclosure

_2041_

“Why so serious, babe?”

Caitlin grimaced, took a deep breath in, and began.

. . .

_ “In the interest of full disclosure . . . there’s something I need to tell you.” _

_ “It’s about my family.” _

_ “It’s not that there’s anything wrong with them . . . I mean, my mom is literally amazing and my baby sister, Daci, is the sweetest person you’ll ever meet. They’re great and I love them, it’s just . . .” _

_ “My dad and my brother are former gymnasts. We all are and Daci still is. But Dad and Dru . . .” _

_ “You don’t get it.” _

_ “No you really don’t. You wouldn’t be looking like that if you got it.” _

_ “You’ve got this picture in your head of what you think gymnastics is like. Little girls barely in their teens performing pretty pirouettes on a balance beam. And you think the guys are the same.” _

_ “I’m not angry, I’m just trying to make you understand this. My dad’s not puny. He’s six one and Dru isn’t much shorter. And they’re both built like male gymnasts because that’s what they are . . . and you still have no idea what I mean by that.” _

_ “Dru can lift me with one hand like it’s nothing. Because to him it’s like he’s lifting nothing at all. I weigh less than the dumbbells he uses for a _ light_ work out.”_

_ “And my dad is pretty much one of the greatest gymnasts that ever lived. They did an analysis of his winning routines from Sydney using the new Code of Points. His still rings came out at a seven point eight start value. Do you even realize how much upper body strength is required for a seven point eight start value?” _

_ “He’s not old. He’s only like . . . fifty something and he’s still in good shape. He still works out practically every day. And he won an amateur boxing competition a few years back . . . so . . . uh . . . yeah.” _

_ “Dad and Dru . . . like don’t get me wrong because I love them to bits. They just . . . they’re as bad as each other sometimes. Dad’ll call Dru rash and then Mom will go call him out on it, because we all know where Dru gets it from. They’re both so . . . they just don’t think sometimes.” _

_ “Like I was six and I came home from school one day crying because some boy was teasing me. And Mom said that thing about how it was probably because he liked me. I never really worked out which set him off, but the next day Dru got a detention for hitting a kid four years younger than him.” _

_ “That’s only the start of it. Uncle Marty’s just as bad – did I mention that my Dad’s kicked his ass about a billion times? That’s his best friend.” _

_ “Right. Marty. Sometimes he’s even worse than the rest of them. He actually interrogated Harley when he and Dru first met. Who interrogates a six year old?” _

_ “Harley? Oh no, he’s actually pretty harmless compared to the rest of them. I mean, he’s a cop so there are certain limits to what he can _ actually_ do to a person. And Harley’s not clever enough to get away with anything illegal.”_

_ “Where was I? Oh . . . I was just about to tell you about Uncle Luca. Dad always kids that him and Bunic were part of the Romanian Mafia. I’m pretty sure it’s a joke, but it’s kind of hard to tell with Uncle Luca. I do know he was part of the Romanian Air Force and he worked for the Foreign Intelligence Agency, but it’s all pretty hush hush.” _

_ “I don’t think he was a spy. I mean, he doesn’t really talk about it, but that doesn’t make him a spy.” _

_ “Actually can you not talk about the country I was born in like they’re a bunch of ideologically opposed militants hell bent on taking over the world? And maybe try reading a history book published after 1989.” _

_ “Thanks.” _

_ “Um . . . I guess that brings us to Grandpa. Like physically, he’s probably your least threat. But in terms of psychological warfare . . .” _

_ “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I almost forgot Uncle Chris. He’s actually pretty laid back – compared to the rest of them – but he was born in Texas. And the good lord choose to bless him and Auntie Becca with three sons, so me and Daci are kind of his honorary daughters. And like I said, he is from Texas.” _

_ “So I guess that’s everyone. I just . . . before we went any further, I just thought that you should know what you’re getting yourself into.” _

_ “Don’t bother. You know . . . I think we’re probably just better as friends.” _

_ \--- _

Caitlin Belov had a fool proof quality control system when it came to relationships.

Whether she liked it or not.   
  
It all began when she was much too young to understand its implications, but survived to this day in a slightly modified form that allowed her greater control over its implementation.

Any boy even mildly interested in her had to face several hurdles before they even got near her. While she was still competing and training daily at ESA the first hurdle was going against the gym’s "no dating rule", which (at her mother's insistence) was meant more of a deterrent than as a hard and fast rule. It wasn't a huge hurdle, but few people were willing to defy her father even on a rarely enforced rule. Most were aware that when it came to Caitlin - rather than one of the other gymnasts - Sasha Belov would be more than willing to make an exception on the rule's enforcement and have them kicked out on their asses if he got even a hint of offence to his daughter’s happiness. For many it simply wasn't worth the risk.

The next hurdle was her Uncle Marty. He seemed to spend a lot of time just observing the male gymnasts around ESA and if he saw any of their gazes lingering on her just a little too long, he pulled them aside for a long and drawn out talk about sex and heavy implications about what would happen to them if they even thought about touching her.

Those consequences involved her brother - stage three. And so help any man that made Dru Belov's little sister cry. At six feet tall and 150 pounds of muscle, her brother even made other male gymnasts look puny. Like any guy would be insane enough to pit himself against Dru in a fair fight. And when it came to his little sisters, Dru _did not_ fight fair.

Those were the basic obstacles to overcome. If they were lucky, that's where it ended. If they were unlucky there was Uncle Luca - Bunic's younger brother. According to her parents, Uncle Luca had sworn at her baptism that he would make any man that hurt her disappear. And the thing was, Uncle Luca had _connections_ within the CIA and RFIA so it was in no way an empty threat. 

And then maybe Uncle Chris, who was the only uncle who was _actually_ her uncle (through Auntie Becca). Uncle Chris was pretty mellow (compared to the rest of them), but she knew from her cousins (all boys - so that was three more body guards to count upon) that he could shoot a moving target from over a mile away and as a son of Texas believed firmly in his constitutional right to bear arms. Running away would be ineffective. Obviously.

Grandpa would probably do some psychological shtick if he got the chance. Could probably convince the guy that he was certifiably insane and have him locked away for life. And really, that was gentlest of consequences.

In the interest of full disclosure, she made all this clear to any potential suitor. It was only fair warning.

What she didn't tell them was that the one they really had to look out for was her mother. Her brother might beat them up and Marty might scar them to the point where they may never want to have sex. Ever. With anyone.

But her mother. Her mother could do so much worse and Caitlin couldn't even begin to put it into words.

But she tried. Warning as best she could of the consequences that lay ahead.

_ 'It's only fair,' _ she thought, frowning a little bit to herself. Already knowing that this was going to end badly.

They boy across from her smiled charmingly, his beautiful lips spread over perfectly straight, gleaming teeth.

“Why so serious, babe?”

_ Caitlin grimaced, took a breath in, and began. _

**Author's Note:**

> Original Authors Note: The furthest forward yet. This one pops up sometime after 2040, once Caitlin retires from gymnastics and finds herself around people who have no idea how frightened they ought to be of her father and brother.
> 
> It's the strangest thing, as soon as I wrote Harley in there I decided that was who Caitlin was going to end up with. And that quickly filled out to this idea of how it happened and how Harley had liked her for awhile, but she's his best friend's sister, so he definitely wasn't going there. Plus, Caitlin wasn't really interested in anything but gymnastics at the time, so he kind of gave up on that.  
Then a couple of years later, Caitlin's in college - at Washington of course because that's her parents' alma mater and she has no interest in leaving Seattle. She's out partying one night and on her way out she runs into Harley on patrol and he cautions her about being underaged - in a teasing, brotherly way. As it's nearly the end of the night (and who can resist a man in uniform) she ends up sending her friends off without her and hanging out with Harley for a couple of hours. And they watch the sunrise together. And Caitlin realizes that she kind of likes him, which is ridiculous because Harley's always been there and he's kind of like her brother, except that he's not her brother and dammit why does he have to look so cute in his uniform.  
Dru's annoyed when he finds out, 'cos it's his little sister and best friend's are not supposed to scam on other friends' little sister. Payson already knew.  
Then eventually there's a wedding and a wedding speech and hilarity ensues. Like Harley telling everyone that when he first met Caitlin he was actually more interested in Dru - because really there is no way to make that sound better. Then he tries to fix it by explaining that Caitlin just lay around making noises - and nothing's really changed since then. Which earns him the evil eye from his now father-in-law and if nobody see's him by twelve o'clock tomorrow, they all know that he's been brutally murdered in his sleep by his new in-laws. 
> 
> What I have learnt from this is that I need to stop watching Rookie Blue. Especially as I don't even like Rookie Blue. And I should definitely not be mentally casting Gregory Smith as Harley.


End file.
